


Figure of Tragedy

by darkgaaraluver



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Past Suicide, Pining, Post-Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-16
Updated: 2018-08-16
Packaged: 2019-06-28 03:34:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15699315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darkgaaraluver/pseuds/darkgaaraluver
Summary: It's time to wake up Ventus. Lea is having trouble coping and Riku tries to talk him through it.





	Figure of Tragedy

**Author's Note:**

> This is a slightly late oneshot for 8/13. i started it several months ago when I finished rewatching the whole series again in preparation for the new trailers and whatnot. Axel and Roxas always make me incredibly sad though. So I went and wrote this right after when I was emotional and promptly forgot it existed until now when I was looking through my drive after working on This Smacks of Rainbows. It's not great but Axel/Lea always needs some love. I hope I got all the ships KH is kinda ridiculous. (I love it though)

Lea wasn’t sure what he was doing. 

 

One second he’d been watching Riku and Sora reunite after Riku’s return from the land of darkness, the next he just couldn’t take it and wandered off. His chest felt painfully full and his hands were shaking again. He wasn’t sure how long he’s been leaning against the solid stone of Yen Sid’s tower. All he knew was that he’d left before sunset and now the stars were out. 

 

Lea held his hands up to his face, trying to will the shaking to stop. He hated that he still had to wear the organizations coat if he wanted to travel the corridors of darkness. Another part of him was always clinging to it. Because if he changed maybe Roxas wouldn’t recognize him. 

 

He squeezed his eyes closed. Even thinking his name hurt like a stab wound. 

 

His legs were shaking too. He remembered King Mickey’s words and slid down the wall behind him. 

 

Mickey had pulled him aside a few days ago...

 

_ Lea had been taking a break from keyblade practise when King Mickey had walked up to him.  _

 

_ “Lea I need to talk to you.” His tone of voice was serious.  _

 

_ Lea had a bad feeling but pushed it down with a smirk. “Go ahead. Lay it on me Your Majesty.”  _

 

_ Mickey had put a hand on his shoulder. “Gosh Lea, I’m not sure how to start. I don’t know the exact relationship you had with Roxas… But I know it was close so I only felt it fair to warn you…” _

 

_ At Roxas’ name Lea felt all the blood run out of his face and a ball of ice drop into his stomach. He knew his voice sounded gruff when he talked, “Just spit it out, why don’t you?” _

 

_ Mickey obviously noticed the change in him. He swallowed hard and squeezed Lea’s shoulder. “Well, after Riku gets back with Aqua our next step will be waking up Ventus. The-the thing about Ventus is that before he went to sleep his heart was damaged, and it appears that he sent it into Sora’s heart to heal while he slept.” _

 

_ Suspicion rose in Lea. “So? What does that have to do with me or -” _

 

_ “Lea. We’re not sure why but… You know Roxas didn’t look like Sora. He must have been influenced strongly by the presence of Ventus’s heart. But Lea. Roxas and Ventus are near identical. Not only that, but we’re not sure what’s going to happen when we take Ventus’ heart out of Sora. I thought you’d…. Like to be prepared.” _

 

_ Lea felt a rising tide of something. He wasn’t sure what. Panic? Pain? Either way he closed his eyes and pushed it down as far as he could. _

 

_ He stood up, brushing off Mickey’s hand. When he looked down at Mickey his eyes seemed to hold a deep sadness. “Thanks for the warning. I’ve gotta get back to training now.” _

 

_ Then he had left.  _

  
  


Now it seemed like everything was catching up to him. He’d been pushing everything down as far as he could. His time as Axel, everything about Roxas, fucking Isa. How alone he felt in a world where all his friends were dead. But now Riku had returned and that meant it was time to go after Ventus. 

 

Whenever he tried to think about it the only thing that filled his head was a rushing noise. Could he even survive seeing a Roxas that didn’t know who he was? 

 

He just… 

 

“You’re on fire. Just, so you know.” Lea wasn’t sure whose voice it was but now that it’d been pointed out he could feel the familiar flames licking up his hands and arms. He lifted his head and tried to will it down but couldn’t seem to get it. His breath picked up. 

 

“Hey!” Two hands landed on his shoulders. “You need to calm down. Breath. Come on. In...Out.”

 

Lea started breathing in time almost without realizing it. The more he breathed the calmer he felt, until he became aware that it was Riku looking him in the eye. Then that his flames were finally receding. 

 

“So I take it King Mickey told you about Ventus then?” Riku backed up to give Lea some room. Lea took the room to just slid down the wall. Riku sighed and sat next to him. 

 

Lea wasn’t even sure where he was right now. He was looking at trees but. But. His whole body felt floaty. He brought his hand up to his face and stared at it. He squeezed it into a fist. He was alive. The pain that burned in his chest when he thought it seemed to confirm it. He didn’t know he was going to speak until he opened his mouth. “I don’t know if I can do this. I don’t know how to live like this. It’s just been pain since I got my heart back. I’ve done everything just for him. To see him. I don’t know if I can deal with this.”

 

“For whatever it’s worth, I’m sorry.” Lea looked over at Riku. He wasn’t looking at Lea. “I regret what I had to do. I wish I hadn’t had to. But Lea,” He turned to look up at Lea now, his face one of pure desperation. “I had to do it. It was the only way to get Sora back. I need Sora the same way you need Him. He’s my everything. The only thing that dragged me back from darkness, and the only one I’d ever go back in for.”

 

Lea felt like he was looking in a mirror. “I don’t blame you. Not really. The things I’d do for Roxas. Hell, the things I have done for Roxas. Sometimes it scares me. But I’ve got...Nothing else. I know my path from here. I fight this war for someone who’s not here to do it themselves, and I die fighting this war. One way or another. I took up the keyblade for Roxas. I know I can’t stop fighting until it’s over. The pain just. Gets to me sometimes.”

 

Riku turned away and propped his chin on his knees. “I watched Sora stab himself you know. That’s how he was created. It was my fault. I let myself get buried under my jealousy and anger. I thought he was in love with Kairi, would end up married to her with two kids and a dog and I’d be stuck on that stupid island the rest of my life watching it all. I would have preferred that to watching Sora get beaten down. Watch myself hurting him from the inside out. I’m glad I have him now, but my choices will haunt me forever.”

 

Lea scoffed. “What is it about these boys that do these things to us? I never even got the chance to know for sure. The state of our hearts was always in question but. Towards the end I really hoped…. I should have known he’d do the noble thing though. Guess the martyr stuff rubbed off.”

 

Riku turned his head and looked up at Lea over his arm. “You really remind us all why we’re fighting you know? We’ve all seen you fight and most know your story. It really… Brings things home, I guess. To see you around. To remember what everyone's lost. I know that probably doesn’t comfort you. Sora gets this look on his face sometimes…. I don’t know. For whatever it’s worth though, I’m glad you're here. And I hope. I really hope that we can get him back by the end of this. I won’t let you hurt Sora for it. But, any other way I can help I will. I promise. I have to start making up for it somewhere.”

 

Lea put his head on his arms. “Glad I’m some sort of tragic figure for the team.” He scoffed again. “I appreciate the idea though I guess, and your help.”

 

“Hm.”

  
  


\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Everyone kept staring at him.

 

Well, everyone but that new Aqua chick. Lea appreciated that at least. His whole body felt like lead and his insides felt frozen. He had to keep digging his nails into his palms to prove that the whole thing was real. He hoped to god that none of the Xehenort’s met them on the new world, cause he was sure he wouldn’t be able to control his fire right now. 

He saw that Riku had Sora’s hand in a vice grip. It made him feel a little better. 

 

The landing was uneventful. The walk through Castle Oblivion made him feel nauseous. He clearly remembered the last time he’d brought Roxas here. The way he clutched his head and screamed. How he’d passed out. Even then the scream had shaken Lea to his core. The pure  _ fear _ he’d felt rushing through him left him shaken for days. He couldn’t believe he could possibly feel such fear without a heart and was almost sure. 

 

It didn’t take long to find the Room of Waking with Aqua leading the group. 

 

He got just far enough in to see the body. And froze. It took everything in him to keep breathing. His eyes stung. He just.  _ Wanted _ . 

 

Aqua briefly knelt down to hold the boy’s face in her palms. The look of anguish on her face made even Lea’s new heart thump in painful sympathy. 

 

Then she moved and Sora took her place. He leant forward and rested his forehead on the boy’s. Then he looked up at Riku standing slightly behind him. His eyes were pleading. Riku’s were a study in pain. He looked away from Sora for a moment to meet Lea’s eyes. Lea wasn’t sure what he saw, but it steeled him a bit. He gave Lea a nod and turned back to Sora. Summoned his keyblade. 

 

Dived.

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

It took a long time. 

 

But slowly. Slowly. The two boys started stirring. Riku reappeared. Sora woke first. Then the boy. Ventus. 

 

His eyes opened. Lea’s breath caught in his throat. They were just exactly the same shade as Roxas’s. His hair, his clothes, now his eyes. Lea was pretty sure he was just punched in the chest. 

 

The first person he saw was Sora sitting in front of him. “I’m awake?”

 

Sora grinned big, but his eyes were watering visibly. “Yeah. You’re awake. Ventus.”

 

Ventus’s face split into a slow grin and it was so like his it was so… “Thank you. Sora.”

 

Aqua couldn’t take it anymore and ran up onto the dais to hug him. She was sobbing. Lea wished he could.... “Ventus thank god. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry we couldn’t protect you, and I left so long, I’m so sorry Ven.”

 

He hugged her back immediately. “It’s okay Aqua! I’m okay now, it’s fine. I’m home.”

 

Aqua grinned and sobed. “Welcome home Ven.”

 

Lea’s knees gave out. Ven. Not Roxas. Not his home. 

 

Lea wasn’t sure what it was. If Ventus had seen his movement over Aqua’s shoulder or what, but he stood up shakely out of Aqua’s arms to look at him. “Lea? What are you doing here? You look so much older. Are you oka-”

 

Every word stabbed him straight in the heart. He was crying now. Everyone was looking at him. Riku and Sora looked almost as pained as him. Ventus looked surprised, then concerned.

 

Then he was screaming. 

 

Everyone jumped. Aqua started casting curaga’s on him.

 

He stumbled off the dias and wobbles right over to Lea. He falls to his knees in front of him. He looks up from the floor right at Lea and all Lea can think it ‘beautiful’. “Axel.”

 

Lea’s pretty sure his heart stops. “R-Roxas?”

 

“Axel! I remember! It’s me! Thank you for keeping your promise.” Lea reached out and touched his face with a shaking hand and cupped his cheek. Ventus was quick to hold it there. 

 

“I really thought you were gone for good there Roxy.” Ventus's nose scrunched up.

 

“It’s Ventus you know. Got it memorised?” Lea laughed a breath away from his mouth. 

 

“Well my name’s Lea now so we both got it wrong.” Ventus grinned. 

 

“Guess we did meet again in another life.” 

 

Lea leaned in and kissed him. 


End file.
